The singer is preparing for the release of her debut EP, ‘Leoness’ which contains six songs, on Friday 12th April.

Speaking exclusively to Goss.ie about her track ‘Where You Really From?’, Erica said: “I kind of had enough of the ‘can I touch your hair? Where are you really from?’ It was just kind of about boundaries. I wrote it around the whole Repeal movement as well.”

“So I felt like we were all a bit fed up with people kind of having a say on our stories and whatever the case may be. So I was like ‘I need to write a song about boundaries, self-respect, love, appreciation, stigma-free boundaries’ and just put it out into the world as an anthem.'”

Instagram

“It was an important song to write because I had never heard anything like that when I was growing up. So I always thought it was okay for people to touch my hair and ask me where am I really from all the time,” she continued.

“As I got older I realised that a lot of people don’t have the luxury of knowing where they really are from, depending on their family dynamic or their background or simply not really wanting to know.”

The singer added that she wants people to be able to connect with her music through their own experiences: “So I just found it was important for anyone that was going through something similar to have it resinate with them and have a song behind it all.”

“I just find no matter who is listening to your music they always want to be able to relate to it in some way. No matter what I’m going through, it takes for me to actually go through something to be inspired to write something.”

Instagram

“So I find whenever I’ve gone through something that’s when I’ll have a really good song, from whether it’s someone asking my where am I really from or standing me up or whatever that case may be. I just think it’s really important to have some sort of meaning behind the message and something that people can relate to.”

“So I always try to mask whatever I’m going through and put it into a way that somebody else can have it relate to their own story or whatever they’re going through.”

Speaking about releasing her debut EP, Erica said: “It feels great. I just feel like I’ve given birth and my chid is going out into the world. It’s insane because I’ve been working on these songs for so long and now they’re finished, they’re ready to flee the nest.”

The singer also opened up about how she started her career in music and revealed that she first started writing when she was just a child: “I have always been around music, I was the only one in my family who was singing and doing that whole thing because I came from a really sporty background. My mam and dad were really sporty, my dad was a professional basketball player. My mam was a gymnast, she played squash, tennis, the whole lot. So I was kind of thrown into that anyway from a young age.”

Instagram

“But when it came to music that was more of like my therapy and how I totally felt like myself and playing basketball was my outlet. That was me going out three times a week and playing games on the weekends, just to have something to relieve stress. But then when it came to writing and music it was more of a therapy thing.”

“I started writing when I was about eight and when I was about ten I started keeping a journal when my mam was going through chemo. So when I kept that journal I noticed my journal was turning into poetry and then the poetry was turning into songs. Then I got a guitar, then I just started putting melodies these poems that I had and they just started turning into lyrics.”

“Then here we are, as I was growing it became a really natural organic growth – from playing guitar, to learning how to produce my own stuff, to learning how to do both. Now we’re here,” she added.

As for the inspiration behind her style of music, Erica told us:”A lot of 90s R&B influences, definitely. But that’s like throughout any music I do I find. Just because like R&B music is what I make but also what my parents kind of had me growing up listening to. So I just think it’s a natural progression and inspiration when it comes to my music it just happens.”

Instagram

The musician also gave advice to young people who want to make it in the industry: “Just be patient and work hard for whatever it is you want to do. But it doesn’t come for free, you have to work your ass off like I’ve been doing since I’ve been like 16. This doesn’t just happen overnight, this has been a long journey so we’re here now.”

“But for anyone who’s upcoming in music or whatever the case may be, if you’re just looking for something that you really want to do as your passion and make it into your career – you just have to be patient and work really, really hard. Learn how to take criticism in a really good way because that’s the only way you can grow into a better version of yourself.”

Speaking of her new music, Erica opened up about her favourite song on her new EP: “To be honest I like them all. I kind of see this EP as five singles. I didn’t want to put in any fillers there, because there’s always a filler track on something. So I was like ‘no, this is going to be five straight little bangers.'”

“To be honest I love them all but my favourite song – lyrics and production – would have to be ‘Where You Really From?’ But then again I also love ‘Over & Over’ and I also love ‘Lovin’ On Me’ and I also love ‘Runaway’ and I also enjoy ‘Good Intentions.'”

Instagram

Erica also spoke about the process of choosing the songs for Leoness and revealed that ‘Where You Really From?’ was the last song she wrote: “It was because I was just like ‘do you know what I just want Leoness to be really personal and I want it to be about me and my journey through my relationships, my friendships, whatever the case may be.'”

“These were the six songs that really resinated with kind of what I was going through. I was like ‘there are the tracks that have to be the ones that go on the EP.’ But ‘Where You Really From?’ was the last one I had written. I wrote that last year when the whole Repeal movement and stuff was going on. So I was like ‘this has to be put on the EP. It can’t be a five-track EP anymore, it has to be six.’ It was just an important one to put on there.”

As for her future plans, the singer said: “Just loads of new music. I’m so excited to work on new music and collaborating and just doing more gigs. After the headliner I’m just like, okay throw the kitchen sink at me. I just want to get in the studio with loads more people. Maybe do a little tour at some point, you never know.”